


Listen

by Namixart



Category: Final Fantasy IV
Genre: But who even is surprised, Edge can't speak Baronian, F/M, Fluff, Kain can speak Eblanese
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 07:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9481817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namixart/pseuds/Namixart
Summary: Edge closed his eyes and listened.It was all he could do these days, not being able to talk and all. So he listened.This language barrier thing sucked.





	

**Author's Note:**

> _Italic text is Eblanese_.  
>  Normal text is Baronian.

Edge closed his eyes and listened.  
It was all he could do these days, not being able to talk and all. So he listened.  
Rydia's voice was smooth and soft, even if her language was rasp and full of consonants. Edge sighed, dejected. Eblanese was melodious and had simple sounds and Edge really missed it.  
Rydia stopped talking mid sentence - probably, Edge was never quite sure - and looked at him. She said something and then glanced at Kain. The dragoon huffed and said in bad, bad Eblanese:  
" _She asked if you were okay._ "  
Edge smiled reassuringly at the girl and nodded.  
She smiled back and resumed her conversation with Rosa.  
Edge leaned back and watched her, trying desperately to catch the meaning in her words.  
This language barrier thing sucked.  
It was difficult to work with his companions when he didn't understand a word they said and the only one who could somewhat speak Eblanese was a jerk.  
Later that night, Edge was lying awake on his cot, intently listening to Rydia and Cecil, when he made a decision.  
" _Kain?_ " he called.  
"Hm?"  
" _Teach me._ "

Kain was a horrible teacher. His and Edge's low tolerance for each other turned their lessons in bickering sessions more often than not. Then there were the times when Edge's wounded pride prevented him from asking Kain for some pointers when he spoke, leading to awkward misunderstandings and an even _more_ bruised ego.  
Sometimes, Rosa would step in to break them up when the bickering threatened to turn into a fight. She would say something to Kain - which often involved the word 'nice', Edge noticed after a couple of weeks - and then she would turn to him and say something in Eblanese that she had picked up from his lessons, an encouragement not to give up. Edge would then huff and smile at her, begrudgingly holding out a hand for Kain to shake.  
Rosa was good with languages and people, and Edge cursed his luck that it was Kain who knew enough Eblanese to interact with him.  
However, Edge was forced to acknowledge the fact that Kain was, in fact, doing an okay job teaching him Baronian when he found himself nodding along Cecil's instructions for the next leg of trekking. After a month, Edge could grasp the general meaning of what everyone said.  
Understanding a bit more Baronian made the journey much more bearable for Edge. Now he didn't have to always feel left out of conversations and he didn't need Kain to translate everything for him.  
But the language barrier had yet to be completely shattered. Edge still couldn't handle anything more than a simple chat, let alone a full-on strategy discourse with King Giott.  
So he stayed out of the meeting and wandered aimlessly around the castle. He was delighted when he found out that some of the dwarves spoke Eblanese due to the closeness to the Tower of Babil.  
He was absorbed in a conversation with a guard about weapons, when he heard steps behind him. He turned around and saw Rydia, standing against a column. She waved sheepishly and walked closer.  
"I've never heard you talk so much." she said, smiling.  
Edge noticed that she was trying to keep her sentences short and simple, and smiled as well.  
"I like your voice. I wish I could hear more of it. And I like your language too."  
"I can teach you Eblanese." he couldn't stop the words before they came out of his mouth.  
Rydia's eyes lit up.  
"You would? Really?" she exclaimed.  
Edge chuckled. She sounded so excited.  
"I can try."  
She smiled wider than Edge had ever seen anyone smile. He smiled back and thought vaguely that he wanted to see that again.

And so it happened that Rydia joined Edge and Kain's lessons. If anything, it was a way of keeping their minds off of the creatures that lurked in the shadowy hallways of the Tower.  
Rydia was a much faster learner than Edge was, although that may have had something to do with Kain being a native Baronian speaker like she was. In three weeks her colloquial Eblanese was just as bad as Edge's colloquial Baronian, which they both chalked down as a success.  
Rydia hadn't shown him that smile ever since thay day. Edge tried his hardest to bring it out again, but so far he hadn't quite succeeded. Sure, she smiled often, but it wasn't _that_ smile.

The day Edge met Rubicante was the worst of his life. The demon spoke his language as he apologized for his parents' death, scolded him for his anger and challenged them to a battle. He obviously thought he was being polite, but all it did was add more fuel to the fire.  
" _You think our rage... a weakness? Then let me show you how wrong you are!_ " Edge shouted, narrowing his eyes to slits.  
Rydia flinched in his peripheral vision, but he was already running towards Rubicante. He vaguely heard her call his name, but her voice was drowned by the storm of fire rising around them.

He let his companions go ahead first, then he collapsed to his knees. He choked on air, trying to swallow the tears that wouldn't come. The scene kept replaying itself before his eyes. His parents turning to dust and crumbling to the ground, his desperate cries as he tried to reach them and-  
"Edge?"  
There was a hand on his shoulder. Rydia cupped his face with her other hand and pulled him into an embrace that maybe she needed too.  
Edge breathed once, twice, three times before wrapping his arms around her small figure and burying his face in her shoulder. Rydia tightened her hold for a second.  
" _It will be okay. I am here. You are not alone._ " she whispered, in her broken Eblanese.  
"I know. Thank you." he murmured back in his equally broken Baronian and a shaky voice.  
They were both crying and no one noticed.

Eblanese and Baronian were much more similar than Edge had initially thought. Aside from the words themselves, the grammar was pretty much identical for the two languages, making learning them much easier.  
After two months, Kain's presence at their lessons was superfluous. He quietly left while Edge and Rydia were happily chatting together, switching more or less seamlessly between Eblanese and Baronian when they couldn't think of a word.  
Now that he could finally talk to and be understood by someone who wasn't Kain, Edge was delighted to go back to his jokes and carefree attitude to see if Rydia would show him that smile again.  
" _Well, this is unfortunate._ " he commented when they heard the unmistakable rustling of a Red Giant behind them.  
Rydia rolled her eyes.  
"What's unfortunate is you ability to make jokes at a time like this." she replied, turning around to face the monster.  
She already had lightning cracking in her hands, Edge noticed.  
" _Come on, Rydia, I know you care_." he laughed, easily dodging the Giant's fist.  
Rydia laughed as well and let the magic crash down on the monster.

He heard her light steps behind him in the midde of his watch and he turned to face her. She was shivering, her arms wrapped around herself. Edge softened his expression.  
"Nightmare?" he said softly.  
Rydia nodded. Edge gave her a small smile and scooted over to make room. He patted the rock beside him. Rydia padded over and sat down next to him, the awkwardness of the first few nights long forgotten. She sank into his side and rested her head on his shoulder. Edge sneaked his arm around her and covered her with his cloak. Rydia snuggled closer to him and, when he glanced down, she had a small grateful smile on her face. She was asleep within a minute, the smile still softening her features.  
In the silence of the moon, he could feel his own traitorous heartbeat.  
" _Stop it._ " he whispered.  
_Ba-thump_ , replied his heart.

It was _always_ dragons. Now even Rydia had a dragon she could summon to burn his entire existence to a crisp. Honestly, he'd let her, his brain added before Edge shoved that thought in the back of his skull.  
"Rydia's a bit frightening now, isn't she?" Rosa mused as she walked next to him.  
"Yes. Now I'm in even more trouble if she ever gets angry." he commented.  
Rydia, somewhere behid hin, hummed approvingly.  
" _You'd better watch your back_." she teased, Eblanese falling easily from her lips.  
Edge turned around and stuck his tongue out at her. She chuckled and returned the gesture. He grinned mischievously.  
" _Maybe, but I'd much rather watch yours_." he winked, turning back.  
Behind him, he heard stumbling and sputtered words. He didn't need to see her to know she was blushing.

Rydia fell to the ground, drained by the last casting of Meteo.  
Edge picked her up and looked at Cecil questioningly.  
"I think I saw a cave nearby. Follow me." he said, helping Rosa to her feet.  
Edge nodded and readjusted the girl in his arms.  
Rydia's fluttered open.  
"Where am I?" she muttered.  
"In the arms of your Prince Charming, of course." he grinned under his mask.  
She huffed.  
"You're no Prince Charming of mine."  
Edge chuckled softly.  
"Go back to sleep, _Princess. You know you love me_." he said the second part in Eblanese, barely more than a whisper.  
" _Yeah, I do._ " she replied without missing a beat " _I wonder why._ "  
Edge stopped dead in his tracks.  
Rydia blinked.  
Neither spoke for a second.  
"Um." muttered Rydia, eloquently.  
Edge chuckled lightly.  
"Were you... not supposed to say that out loud?" he asked.  
"Was I not supposed to say what? Don't know what you're talking about!" she exclaimed a little too loudly, without looking at him.  
Edge laughed and hugged her closer to his chest, starting to walk again.  
Rydia relaxed a bit in his embrace.  
"So... If, hypothetically, I really said that out loud... Would it be that bad?" she asked, her Baronian shakier than her Eblanese.  
Edge felt so lightheaded and jittery he paused for a moment to enjoy the new emotion. Unfortunately, Rydia took that the wrong way.  
"It's okay! I know it's bad but I wasn't thinking when I said that! I'm so sorry I didn't want to drop this on you like this, it just slipped! I'm sorry please just forget about it, I don't want things to get awkward! And oh no I'm rambling Edge I'm-"  
"Hey."  
Rydia bit down on her lip to stop talking.  
"I'm not sure about the rest, but I think you said you're sorry?" Edge said in Baronian.  
She covered her face with her hands and nodded.  
"Don't be."  
Rydia peeked through her fingers.  
"What?"  
"Don't be sorry. Not when... _I've kind of been in love with you for the longest time?_ " he chickened out and uttered the last part in fast nervous Eblanese.  
But Rydia had always been good with languages, or at least better than he was. She stared at him with wide eyes for a full minute, before roughly tugging down his mask and pulling him in.  
She pressed her lips to his, forceful and shy at the same time.  
Edge was caught completely by surprise, but she pressed on and he managed to overcome the shock and kiss her back. Encouraged by his response, Rydia tangled her hands in his messy hair and bit lightly on his bottom lip. Edge groaned softly and tightened his grip on her.  
Edge breathed her in and thought of the many ways to say " _I love you_ " in Eblanese. Unfortunately, there was only one, so he mumbled it in her mouth over and over until they ran out of air.  
He pressed his forehead to hers, noses almost touching and ragged breaths mingling together.  
Rydia looked at him through half-lidded eyes. She brought a trembling hand to Edge's cheek and stroked it lightly with her thumb.  
She smiled _that_ smile. Edge needed a second to recover.  
" _I'm glad I let that slip out_." she whispered, the emotion in her voice highlighting even more the musicality of Eblanese.  
" _You just ruined the moment. Great job, Rydia_." Edge commented with a half-hearted frown.  
She laughed, and when she looked up to him, cheeks flushed, hair ruffled and gleaming eyes, he found himself out of breath for a moment.  
Just as he was leaning towards her face again, a sharp voice cut through the air.  
"Yeah, not the scene I expected when I came back looking for you two. Do you mind?" Kain deadpanned.  
Rydia let her head drop on Edge's chest with a groan. Her cheeks and ears were beet red, he noticed.  
"Yeah, yeah. Coming." he huffed, readjusting Rydia in his arms.  
As he started following Kain, she snuggled closer to him and breathed something in Eblanese.  
Edge smiled.


End file.
